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Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by soccerboy22

OK good the government did it's job. We should still not allow the government to get involved in the business affairs of these companies. The companies will either raise to the challenge and fix their errors in checking food or they won't and probably get shut down from a lack of people buying from them. And I didn't say the public shouldn't be interested. Hell we should be active and not buy from these companies until they fix their ways. Our not buying from them will be more effective than the government interfering anyways. And I am also not against the inspections and what the government is doing now. I just don't think they need to get involved anymore.

Yeah, historically that is exactly how it worked....

Edit: yes, that is sarcasm.

We became a great nation not because we are a nation of cynics. We became a great nation because we are a nation of believers - Lindsey Graham

Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by soccerboy22

OK good the government did it's job. We should still not allow the government to get involved in the business affairs of these companies. The companies will either raise to the challenge and fix their errors in checking food or they won't and probably get shut down from a lack of people buying from them. And I didn't say the public shouldn't be interested. Hell we should be active and not buy from these companies until they fix their ways. Our not buying from them will be more effective than the government interfering anyways. And I am also not against the inspections and what the government is doing now. I just don't think they need to get involved anymore.

Look around the room and then in the fridge.

How much do you know about where, when, and how any of these items were produced?

This magical free market self-correction you're talking about is a total fantasy. It never has and never will work that way.

He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear

Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by soccerboy22

OK good the government did it's job. We should still not allow the government to get involved in the business affairs of these companies. The companies will either raise to the challenge and fix their errors in checking food or they won't and probably get shut down from a lack of people buying from them. And I didn't say the public shouldn't be interested. Hell we should be active and not buy from these companies until they fix their ways. Our not buying from them will be more effective than the government interfering anyways. And I am also not against the inspections and what the government is doing now. I just don't think they need to get involved anymore.

Applying simple supply and demand to this situation is not going to yield results in the safety department, for a couple of reasons. The first is the demand for food is inelastic so people will always be buying it; the second is that the vast majority of meat on the shelves is no longer butchered locally, but in big factories with the kind of practices that lead to listeria. Simply choosing a different brand name will not increase safety if the entire industry is not being inspected and regulated properly.

Also, people don't know if the meat they're buying has been contaminated or not, they simply buy it and hope that regulatory bodies have done their job. In this case the poisoned meat was caught in time but it wasn't due to consumer choices or industry self-regulating, it was due to government.

I'm sorry, but when it comes to public health it should never be left up to supply and demand, or trust in the idea that companies will look out for the public. They are private businesses and their number one goal is maximization of profits, which is the whole reason why deadly strains of listeria and salmonella are finding their way into food: the companies are getting lazy and the government is not calling them on it.

I sympathize with libertarian ideals but they're not universally applicable. Sometimes regulation is definitely needed and this is one case where I unshakeably think that it is.

Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by liblady

the gov't found the problem, not the company.

The meats may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, which was discovered in a retail sample collected by inspectors in Georgia. The USDA has received no reports of illnesses associated with the meats.

Great, in Georgia. Well, I'm not making any turkey sandwiches anytime soon.

And yeah, the government needs to be stricter about things that involve our health.

Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by Orion

Applying simple supply and demand to this situation is not going to yield results in the safety department, for a couple of reasons. The first is the demand for food is inelastic so people will always be buying it; the second is that the vast majority of meat on the shelves is no longer butchered locally, but in big factories with the kind of practices that lead to listeria. Simply choosing a different brand name will not increase safety if the entire industry is not being inspected and regulated properly.

Also, people don't know if the meat they're buying has been contaminated or not, they simply buy it and hope that regulatory bodies have done their job. In this case the poisoned meat was caught in time but it wasn't due to consumer choices or industry self-regulating, it was due to government.

I'm sorry, but when it comes to public health it should never be left up to supply and demand, or trust in the idea that companies will look out for the public. They are private businesses and their number one goal is maximization of profits, which is the whole reason why deadly strains of listeria and salmonella are finding their way into food: the companies are getting lazy and the government is not calling them on it.

I sympathize with libertarian ideals but they're not universally applicable. Sometimes regulation is definitely needed and this is one case where I unshakeably think that it is.

I am fine with what the government is doing now. If they want to do more inspections or tighten up regulations a bit more that is fine. I just don't want to see them get more involved than that. And I agree that the companies shouldn't be left on their own. I just think the government if it wanted to get involved goes listen you have x amount of time and if we don't see improvement then we will act.

Re: Nationwide meat recall announced

Originally Posted by soccerboy22

Nah I think we should give the companies a chance to fix the problem themselves. In both cases the found it first and stopped it before the government had to step in. Let these companies themselves fix the problem.

I agree. These companies produce millions of pounds of food annually without incident. They found their error, made the public aware without being asked and are fixing it. No need for government intervention.

"Gold gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."
- Warren Buffett